Is "The Street" as relevant today as it was in the 1940s or have things changed for those living in the innercity ghetto areas? If not, why have things remained the same?

-- Anonymous, April 13, 2000

Answers

Ben, I don't think things have changed much. Certainly not for the better, anyway. I know Jim said that the book wasn't about prejudism, but a person can't help thinking about it while they read. My mind has chalked the inner city distress precisely to prejudism, but not just how it affects people today. The problem began when the first slaveholder called a black man an animal. Emancipation didn't stop the degradation of blacks. Years and years of opression have built a way of life into people who have become too accustomed to existing as they've always had to. Schooling in the inner city sucks beyond belief. Even if a kid wants a decent education, it's a fight. Did you see the movie "187" or "167"? Can't remember the number, but it was a hell of a view of schools and from what I've heard, it's a pretty accurate description of life in places far, far away from our little sanctuary here in Nebraska. Generation after generation of supression, poor wages, people being forced to find ANY means they can to survive, lousy education opportunities and an expectancy of things not changing created the ghetto. The situation perpetuates itself.

-- Anonymous, April 13, 2000

I think that the problem is still there today if you know where to look. I think that the situations in the street can still be found in the US today. The reasons are the same as it was back in the 40s. Just like Lutie many single parents find themselves living in poor conditions with very little food, and very little money left after paying for basic things. I think alot of the problems are when you are a single parent and you have to provide by yourself, another problem today in the inner cities is just saving your money and using it for things you truely need. The reason I liked the book the street is becasue even though it was wrote in the 40s it is still tr

-- Anonymous, April 26, 2000